Ford had significant representation among the value experts' “5-Year Cost to Own Award” winners.

The experts at Cedar Rapids' Zimmerman Ford would be some of the first to talk of the great value offered by Ford vehicles, and so it is with great pride that they announce that Kelley Blue Book, industry experts on vehicle value, have named five Ford and Lincoln vehicles among their “5-Year Cost to Own Award” winners.

The award is given to vehicles that are the top in their class with regard to lowest ownership cost. Put simply, these are the cars and crossovers to choose for drivers looking to continue saving money after they've driven it off the lot.

In the category of “Full-Size SUV/Crossover,” contending with one of the fastest growing segments of the auto market, the 2013 Ford Explorer came out on top. In addition to the cost to own an Explorer, its power, class, and multiple different seating configurations for maximizing storage space help to launch it ahead of competing vehicles with little trouble.

It probably comes as little surprise to see the iconic 2013 Ford Mustang taking home the award for the sports car category. Underneath the power and style that the Mustang is famous for is the same reliable Ford engineering that pushed each of these vehicles to victory in the Kelley Blue Book ratings.

Since the Mustang took home the sports car slot, the 2013 Mustang GT earning the same ranking in the high performance car category should come as little surprise.

The other two vehicles, sharing much in common with their Ford cousins, are Lincoln's MKT and MKX, taking the lead over other luxury automakers in the Full-Size Luxury SUV/Crossover and Midsize Luxury SUV/Crossover categories, respectively.

These rankings were determined by estimates from the folks at Kelley Blue Book; these estimates are established by looking at general performance of the vehicle in the past and changes that have been made to the current model.

The “cost to own” being calculated comes from subtracting the 5-year value from the MSRP and determining how much money would have been spent on owning the vehicle over that period, repairs, maintenance, and all.

For more information on these award-winning vehicles or to schedule a test drive of one of the Ford models, readers have been asked to contact Zimmerman Ford. Their dealership is open six days a week and located at 4001 1st Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids.